Wednesday, May 03, 2006
Frustrating Night at Dakota's
I suppose it's only frustrating b/c I've set higher standards for myself. In the past, I could have considered this a successful night. I started the night at Border's. I go to there like five days a week now. For some reason, I was feeling approach anxiety. I briefly talked to a hired gun there. I saw a 3-set upstairs that I didn't open. I felt like it would be awkward b/c their were talking to some guy that worked there. I saw a 2-set that I planned on opening, but then I made the excuse that they were too young. They probably weren't. I was just making excuses. They were probably 18, but even if they were 17, that's not too young in IL as that's the age of consent. I also avoided opening another 2-set that I saw in the cafe area. I felt shitty about this whole Border's sequence b/c it was completely opposite of my sarges at Starbuck's on Monday. I felt really comfortable for the first time that day and I thought it would be that way today.
I still had some time before my Mix Master Throwdown pass expired at 10PM so I decided to go to the Streets of Woodfield Starbucks. I also go there 5+ days a week now. What I really should do is hang out there longer. Lately, I just walk in, get my drink and open any sets that are around. Tonight, there were no sets when I walked in. I don't mean there were difficult sets, but there literally were no sets. The only woman there were in a couple set: one guy and one girl. Just as I was about to leave, I did see a lone wolf. I opened her by telling her that there was a free drink sitting on the counter. This drink was extra or something b/c it had been sitting there for 10 minutes. I go no response. I should have went into a routine, but I just bailed. I was pissed that I had chickened out on the sets at Border's and now there weren't any sets at Starbucks. I felt better after having my drink, so I comforted myself by telling myself that I'll have all the sets I can handle at Dakota's.
Dakota's:
I got there about 9:45PM. There were about seven cars in the parking lot. I thought more people would take advantage of the free cover, but I wasn't too surprised that it was dead. Dakota's is an after hours places and it typically doesn't get busy until after midnight when the Alumni Club down the street closes. I actually hate Dakota's. It's too small and crowded, and they charge $10 cover on the weekends for the 1.5 hours you can spend there after Alumni closes. I decided it would be worth trying for free.
Maybe it was good that the place was dead b/c it forced me to sarge some sets right away so I wouldn't look like a loser by myself. When I first started sarging solo, I usually was able to get into a guy set so I had a base of operations. As my approach anxiety lessened, I found myself not even bothering to sarge guy sets unless I really needed the warmup. When I used them as warm up sets, I'd BS for about 2-3 minutes and then leave. I knew I needed to have a real base here. I opened a two guy set. The guys were work buddies and were pretty cool. They even introduced me to the $3 personal pitchers. All drinks were $3 and the pitcher was a great deal.
After I chatted with these dudes for a bit, I saw this redhead and brunette walk in. I told the guys I was going to approach. As soon as I said, "I need a female opinion," the redhead said that I'd already asked her this. I then realized that it was the redhead from Alumni Club in Schaumburg on Sat. She was cute, but I have a weakness for redheads. In reality, she's probably an HB7. I tried to recover by running a shitty version of "My Little Pony." The redhead was cold, but still responsive. The friend didn't like me and busted me out. She said that the redhead's boyfriend was "over there" and then dragged the redhead away. I then went back to the guys and told them that I had run my routine on the redhead on Saturday and we all got a laugh about it.
I opened some other sets that didn't really stand out. Now that I think about it, I actually opened a 2set before the guys. I opened this chunky Italian girl with an "Italy" t-shirt on. Her friend was this quiet, have Arab girl. I was in the set for 3-4 minutes until the Italian girl started a conversation up with the bartender. I tried to talk to the Arab girl, but she was quiet and shy so I ejected. I also opened this one girl by negging her. I asked about her nails, but she said they were real, so I just said, "Oh, well I guess they still look nice." I used the "That's a cool shirt, those seem to be popular nowadays" several times as well. I still don't understand that neg but I use it anyway.
I opened a seated 2-set in a booth that bordered the dance floor. I ran the open on them and then this black dude came. I then turned my attention to him. He was pretty cool and apparently, so was I, b/c he immediately moved over and invited me to sit down. I was in this mixed 3-set. I hung out for a few minutes. I even left and came back. I sarged the girls but I couldn't seem to hook them. They were the typical party girls. I negged the hottest girl several times. I probably should have sat next to her and tried to game her, but I didn't. Instead, I gamed the plain looking blonde. She basically told me she didn't do anything but go to the bars. I couldn't get her talking about travel either. Party girls really seem to be a sticking point for me.
One other notable thing is that I ran PVC devil. I opened this two set, again with a neg. I opened this peroxide looking blonde by asking her if her hair was her natural color. She said, "No" and I said, "Oh, you changed it to that?! Well, I guess it looks okay." I later found out she was a hair stylist. LOL. I got a few giggles when I ran PVC devil which is pretty good for my first use. I found out the blonde's friend was her sister-in-law. I think I stalled b/c I was trying to figure out which one was married. I ejected from this set b/c I seemed to be getting nowhere. Later, I saw that the other girl was the married one as she had a dude around her most of the time, and the blonde was alone, except when she was getting sarged. I probably should have approached this set again, but I felt awkward.
What's wrong?
I think I opened over 10 sets. It's probably close to 20 if you include girls that I just made a few comments too. I think I'm still suffering from a lack of confidence sometimes. I opened this blonde with glasses that was from out of town. We chatted for a bit, and then the two UG friends wanted to go to the dance floor. Later, I saw them sitting in the beer garden. I made my usual party guy comments by saying something like, "Hey, I hope you two aren't giving up. The night is still young." The blonde then recognized it was me and said, "Hi" and ask how I was doing. Then the third friend came back from the bathroom. I said something, but apparently I wasn't speaking loud enough. The girl didn't say anything, and then I heard the blonde say that she didn't hear me. I then ejected. I guess I could have sat down at the table and ran some routines. Then, I should have tried to isolate the blonde. I just don't know sometimes when I should persist.
I seem to be great at opening. Of course, there were some hot girls that blew me out right away, but I can get into most sets for a few minutes. I just can't get anywhere past that. There was another two-set that I saw on the dance floor. I later saw the skinnier one sitting on a couch. She was wasted and was yelling stuff at some guys that walked by. The guys weren't interested. I tried chatting with her, but she didn't say anything interesting. Here is probably another fuckup. I should have continued to run game ,but I didn't know what else to say. Later, I saw the two again. I made some comment to the thicker friend, but again, I didn't feel like I could get anywhere so I just gave up.
Not caring and getting AMOG'ed:
I got to the point were I was ready to leave, but I did one last walk around. I saw some HB8 blonde ordering drinks. I figured I'd run game since she was one of the few girls I hadn't opened yet. I was sick of the tent opener so I did a neg opener again. I should have done the lint opener b/c I brought a ball of lint but never used it. I actually forgot I had it until right now. I told her that her shirt seemed to be popular nowadays. I then asked her if she came from Alumni Club. She said she did. I could tell she was being cold with me, so I decided I just didn't give a fuck, so I tried to qualify her, "What do you have going for you besides your looks?" She giggled when I said that. I then busted on her by accusing her of being like all the other club girls that I run into here. I asked her if she didn't anything else but go to the clubs. She said she worked. I gave my usual response of, "Okay. We all have that problem." I think I asked her about travel. I believe at this point, I saw her looking behind me. I wasn't really in state, so I said something insecure like, "I see you're doing that girl eye code to get rid of me." She actually said she wasn't doing it. I knew I was close to getting busted out, though, b/c she had ordered 5 drinks. Sure enough, some AMOG comes in and gets drink from her. He goes in between her and I. I didn't want to feel like a total tool, so I asked him what time the place closed. Then I asked about clubs for Wed, but he had no response. I then shook his hand and told him to have a good night.
Conclusions:
Well, I typed so much about a shitty night. I guess I find it soothing to write about my night. I figure I might learn something. As I said in the beginning, this night would be success if I judged it like I used to judge my early solo outings. I went by myself and created not one, but TWO bases of operation. I opened almost every set. There was this smoking hot brunette in a three set, that constantly was being opened by guys, that I didn't open. I saw the 3-set when I was hanging out with the seated mixed set. Later, I saw the girls with guys, so I don't think I was really being chicken. Other than that, I opened 10-15+ sets and I got into most of them. I also used PVC devil for the first time and even got a few giggles. I got myself into the habit of throwing out negs too as there were a lot of hot girls here (way more than I see at Alumni Club).
Still, I'm pissed that I ejected from a few sets. I'll say that the ones I did it with were sets that I opened again. I figured if the girls left me before, I probably shouldn't overstay my welcome the second time. I approached these particular sets again, because I felt like my target was semi-interested and I just felt like I got CBed b/c of bad logistics. I was probably right with at least one of them, but if I'm going to open a set again, I should make sure I don't repeat the same mistakes. In other words, I should disarm the targets and try for isolation.
I guess I'm also pissed that I don't seem to be getting anywhere. I know that the answer is that I'm slowly improving. Tonight's frustrations will help me somewhere down the line when I fclose some HB9. I just feel like I'm missing something crucial. I guess I don't know how to close party girls. I get the set to like me but when I can't find something that we're both interested in, I feel like I can't get a close. In day game, it seems that I run into more girls that I'd actually be interested in seeing again. I guess I should use the word "date" even though I wouldn't date girls AFC style. I'd fclose these hot party girls, but I sure wouldn't want to spend my free time with them if I weren't having sex with them or using them as pivots/social proof. The Italian and Arab girl set liked bowling. I actually should have #closed them. I don't know why I didn't. Maybe what I need to do next time is run attraction game and then just #close when I feel like I might stall. I think I avoid #closing in these situations where blurring or flaking is likely to occur. Still, I might as well do something. Even if I get a ton of flake numbers, at least I learn calibration. Maybe the bowling girls would have met with me again if I had approached them again and #closed them, or if I hadn't ejected. WTF!
On last thing: I just thought of this as I was about to post. I must remember how I felt with that last HB (the one where the AMOG came in). I was out of state, but I had the right "I don't give a fuck" attitude. I remember that I was leaning back. That was good, but I did make the mistake of facing her when I hadn't won her attention. Still, it felt good to not care and just try to qualify her. I think that surprised her.
I suppose it's only frustrating b/c I've set higher standards for myself. In the past, I could have considered this a successful night. I started the night at Border's. I go to there like five days a week now. For some reason, I was feeling approach anxiety. I briefly talked to a hired gun there. I saw a 3-set upstairs that I didn't open. I felt like it would be awkward b/c their were talking to some guy that worked there. I saw a 2-set that I planned on opening, but then I made the excuse that they were too young. They probably weren't. I was just making excuses. They were probably 18, but even if they were 17, that's not too young in IL as that's the age of consent. I also avoided opening another 2-set that I saw in the cafe area. I felt shitty about this whole Border's sequence b/c it was completely opposite of my sarges at Starbuck's on Monday. I felt really comfortable for the first time that day and I thought it would be that way today.
I still had some time before my Mix Master Throwdown pass expired at 10PM so I decided to go to the Streets of Woodfield Starbucks. I also go there 5+ days a week now. What I really should do is hang out there longer. Lately, I just walk in, get my drink and open any sets that are around. Tonight, there were no sets when I walked in. I don't mean there were difficult sets, but there literally were no sets. The only woman there were in a couple set: one guy and one girl. Just as I was about to leave, I did see a lone wolf. I opened her by telling her that there was a free drink sitting on the counter. This drink was extra or something b/c it had been sitting there for 10 minutes. I go no response. I should have went into a routine, but I just bailed. I was pissed that I had chickened out on the sets at Border's and now there weren't any sets at Starbucks. I felt better after having my drink, so I comforted myself by telling myself that I'll have all the sets I can handle at Dakota's.
Dakota's:
I got there about 9:45PM. There were about seven cars in the parking lot. I thought more people would take advantage of the free cover, but I wasn't too surprised that it was dead. Dakota's is an after hours places and it typically doesn't get busy until after midnight when the Alumni Club down the street closes. I actually hate Dakota's. It's too small and crowded, and they charge $10 cover on the weekends for the 1.5 hours you can spend there after Alumni closes. I decided it would be worth trying for free.
Maybe it was good that the place was dead b/c it forced me to sarge some sets right away so I wouldn't look like a loser by myself. When I first started sarging solo, I usually was able to get into a guy set so I had a base of operations. As my approach anxiety lessened, I found myself not even bothering to sarge guy sets unless I really needed the warmup. When I used them as warm up sets, I'd BS for about 2-3 minutes and then leave. I knew I needed to have a real base here. I opened a two guy set. The guys were work buddies and were pretty cool. They even introduced me to the $3 personal pitchers. All drinks were $3 and the pitcher was a great deal.
After I chatted with these dudes for a bit, I saw this redhead and brunette walk in. I told the guys I was going to approach. As soon as I said, "I need a female opinion," the redhead said that I'd already asked her this. I then realized that it was the redhead from Alumni Club in Schaumburg on Sat. She was cute, but I have a weakness for redheads. In reality, she's probably an HB7. I tried to recover by running a shitty version of "My Little Pony." The redhead was cold, but still responsive. The friend didn't like me and busted me out. She said that the redhead's boyfriend was "over there" and then dragged the redhead away. I then went back to the guys and told them that I had run my routine on the redhead on Saturday and we all got a laugh about it.
I opened some other sets that didn't really stand out. Now that I think about it, I actually opened a 2set before the guys. I opened this chunky Italian girl with an "Italy" t-shirt on. Her friend was this quiet, have Arab girl. I was in the set for 3-4 minutes until the Italian girl started a conversation up with the bartender. I tried to talk to the Arab girl, but she was quiet and shy so I ejected. I also opened this one girl by negging her. I asked about her nails, but she said they were real, so I just said, "Oh, well I guess they still look nice." I used the "That's a cool shirt, those seem to be popular nowadays" several times as well. I still don't understand that neg but I use it anyway.
I opened a seated 2-set in a booth that bordered the dance floor. I ran the open on them and then this black dude came. I then turned my attention to him. He was pretty cool and apparently, so was I, b/c he immediately moved over and invited me to sit down. I was in this mixed 3-set. I hung out for a few minutes. I even left and came back. I sarged the girls but I couldn't seem to hook them. They were the typical party girls. I negged the hottest girl several times. I probably should have sat next to her and tried to game her, but I didn't. Instead, I gamed the plain looking blonde. She basically told me she didn't do anything but go to the bars. I couldn't get her talking about travel either. Party girls really seem to be a sticking point for me.
One other notable thing is that I ran PVC devil. I opened this two set, again with a neg. I opened this peroxide looking blonde by asking her if her hair was her natural color. She said, "No" and I said, "Oh, you changed it to that?! Well, I guess it looks okay." I later found out she was a hair stylist. LOL. I got a few giggles when I ran PVC devil which is pretty good for my first use. I found out the blonde's friend was her sister-in-law. I think I stalled b/c I was trying to figure out which one was married. I ejected from this set b/c I seemed to be getting nowhere. Later, I saw that the other girl was the married one as she had a dude around her most of the time, and the blonde was alone, except when she was getting sarged. I probably should have approached this set again, but I felt awkward.
What's wrong?
I think I opened over 10 sets. It's probably close to 20 if you include girls that I just made a few comments too. I think I'm still suffering from a lack of confidence sometimes. I opened this blonde with glasses that was from out of town. We chatted for a bit, and then the two UG friends wanted to go to the dance floor. Later, I saw them sitting in the beer garden. I made my usual party guy comments by saying something like, "Hey, I hope you two aren't giving up. The night is still young." The blonde then recognized it was me and said, "Hi" and ask how I was doing. Then the third friend came back from the bathroom. I said something, but apparently I wasn't speaking loud enough. The girl didn't say anything, and then I heard the blonde say that she didn't hear me. I then ejected. I guess I could have sat down at the table and ran some routines. Then, I should have tried to isolate the blonde. I just don't know sometimes when I should persist.
I seem to be great at opening. Of course, there were some hot girls that blew me out right away, but I can get into most sets for a few minutes. I just can't get anywhere past that. There was another two-set that I saw on the dance floor. I later saw the skinnier one sitting on a couch. She was wasted and was yelling stuff at some guys that walked by. The guys weren't interested. I tried chatting with her, but she didn't say anything interesting. Here is probably another fuckup. I should have continued to run game ,but I didn't know what else to say. Later, I saw the two again. I made some comment to the thicker friend, but again, I didn't feel like I could get anywhere so I just gave up.
Not caring and getting AMOG'ed:
I got to the point were I was ready to leave, but I did one last walk around. I saw some HB8 blonde ordering drinks. I figured I'd run game since she was one of the few girls I hadn't opened yet. I was sick of the tent opener so I did a neg opener again. I should have done the lint opener b/c I brought a ball of lint but never used it. I actually forgot I had it until right now. I told her that her shirt seemed to be popular nowadays. I then asked her if she came from Alumni Club. She said she did. I could tell she was being cold with me, so I decided I just didn't give a fuck, so I tried to qualify her, "What do you have going for you besides your looks?" She giggled when I said that. I then busted on her by accusing her of being like all the other club girls that I run into here. I asked her if she didn't anything else but go to the clubs. She said she worked. I gave my usual response of, "Okay. We all have that problem." I think I asked her about travel. I believe at this point, I saw her looking behind me. I wasn't really in state, so I said something insecure like, "I see you're doing that girl eye code to get rid of me." She actually said she wasn't doing it. I knew I was close to getting busted out, though, b/c she had ordered 5 drinks. Sure enough, some AMOG comes in and gets drink from her. He goes in between her and I. I didn't want to feel like a total tool, so I asked him what time the place closed. Then I asked about clubs for Wed, but he had no response. I then shook his hand and told him to have a good night.
Conclusions:
Well, I typed so much about a shitty night. I guess I find it soothing to write about my night. I figure I might learn something. As I said in the beginning, this night would be success if I judged it like I used to judge my early solo outings. I went by myself and created not one, but TWO bases of operation. I opened almost every set. There was this smoking hot brunette in a three set, that constantly was being opened by guys, that I didn't open. I saw the 3-set when I was hanging out with the seated mixed set. Later, I saw the girls with guys, so I don't think I was really being chicken. Other than that, I opened 10-15+ sets and I got into most of them. I also used PVC devil for the first time and even got a few giggles. I got myself into the habit of throwing out negs too as there were a lot of hot girls here (way more than I see at Alumni Club).
Still, I'm pissed that I ejected from a few sets. I'll say that the ones I did it with were sets that I opened again. I figured if the girls left me before, I probably shouldn't overstay my welcome the second time. I approached these particular sets again, because I felt like my target was semi-interested and I just felt like I got CBed b/c of bad logistics. I was probably right with at least one of them, but if I'm going to open a set again, I should make sure I don't repeat the same mistakes. In other words, I should disarm the targets and try for isolation.
I guess I'm also pissed that I don't seem to be getting anywhere. I know that the answer is that I'm slowly improving. Tonight's frustrations will help me somewhere down the line when I fclose some HB9. I just feel like I'm missing something crucial. I guess I don't know how to close party girls. I get the set to like me but when I can't find something that we're both interested in, I feel like I can't get a close. In day game, it seems that I run into more girls that I'd actually be interested in seeing again. I guess I should use the word "date" even though I wouldn't date girls AFC style. I'd fclose these hot party girls, but I sure wouldn't want to spend my free time with them if I weren't having sex with them or using them as pivots/social proof. The Italian and Arab girl set liked bowling. I actually should have #closed them. I don't know why I didn't. Maybe what I need to do next time is run attraction game and then just #close when I feel like I might stall. I think I avoid #closing in these situations where blurring or flaking is likely to occur. Still, I might as well do something. Even if I get a ton of flake numbers, at least I learn calibration. Maybe the bowling girls would have met with me again if I had approached them again and #closed them, or if I hadn't ejected. WTF!
On last thing: I just thought of this as I was about to post. I must remember how I felt with that last HB (the one where the AMOG came in). I was out of state, but I had the right "I don't give a fuck" attitude. I remember that I was leaning back. That was good, but I did make the mistake of facing her when I hadn't won her attention. Still, it felt good to not care and just try to qualify her. I think that surprised her.
